Decorated rubber artici



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT A. SOMERVILLE, F FLUSHING, NEW YORK, ASSIG-NOR TO NEW YORK BELTING & PACKING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

DECORATEI) RUBBER ARTICLE AND METHOD OF MAKING- SAME.

No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT A. SOMER- VILLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Flushing, Lon Island, county of Queens, and State of ew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Decorated Rubber Articles and Methods of Making Same, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to decorated rubber articles, and the method or art of making same, and more particularly to articles having a surface design formed of contrasting colors or tones, and to the method or art by which the rubber compound, of which the article is made, may be so treated as to impart the darkertones or colors to the rubber compound itself after the article has been formed.

The object of my invention is to provide an article composed of, a homogeneous mass of a rubber compound bearing a suitable surface design, the darker colors or tones of which are incorporated in the compound at and adjacent the surface thereof. This designis formed in the material of the rubber compound in a manner to be inseparable therefrom, as distinguished from the utilization of different compounds containing various color pigments, or other coloring matter, for the purpose of producing the desired contrasting colors, as in buildin up or inlaying the article with different ru ber compounds united by being vulcanized,'cemented, or otherwise associated to secure the finished article.

In an article made in accordance with my invention, it is not only possible to secure a design in contrasting colors, each of which has a substantially uniform tonal value, but to secure graduated tones and high lights in the design, which is impossible when an article is formed of a number of different compounds, even though they differ only as to the character or quantity of the coloring matter used therein.

I have discovered that certain ingredients capable of use in making rubber compounds are sufliciently sensitive to light rays to enable me, by the exposure of said com ound to the action of light rays for a su cient interval and by controlling the action of these light rays on the compound, to so condition the surface of said com ound, that subsequent vulcanization thereo or the ac Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 15, 1919.

Application filed February 7, 1918. Serial No. 215,835.

tion of heat thereon, will result in the development of a well defined design formed by that portion of the rubber which has been exposed to the action of light rays. I have also discovered that in addition to the high lights and the deeper tones in the design, I may secure graduated tones by intercepting a portion, or varying the volume of, the light rays acting upon different portions of the surface of the compound. In this manner I am enabled to decorate the surface of an article formed of a rubber compound with innumerable simple or intricate designs which are incorporated in the body of the article with little or no additional labor beyond that required in forming the article itself, and without the aid of skilled designers or color artists, and may, if desired, produce articles in large numbers all having the same surface design in substantially the same tones.

The invention consists primarily in a decorated rubber article composed of a homogeneous mass of rubber compound having a surface design or decoration formed of contrasting colors or tones incorporated in and forming a part of the rubber compound, and-in such other novel characteristics, and in the novel steps and practices followed in making such articles, all as hereinafter set forth and described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims hereto ap ended.

X decorated rubber article made in accordance with my invention is formed of a homogeneous mass of rubber compound having the same ingredients throughout, the surface decoration consisting of different tonal effects incorporated in and forming a part of the rubber compound. The background or general color scheme of the article depends upon the color pigments incorporated in the compound, the varied tones producing the decorative-effect resulting from a modification of the normal color or tone of the compound as a result of the treatment to which the article is subjected in producing the decorations thereon. These decorations may consist merely in the division of the surface of the article into adjacent areas having different colors or tones, these different areas having substantially the same tonal value throughout or having graduated tones, to secure higher artistic effects.

I have found that articles composed of various well-known rubbercompounds may be so treated asto produce the desired surface decoration thereon. a

While I have referred to the decoration upon the article as being a surface decoration, the method of treating the compound of which thearticle is made is such as to cause the deeper tones to extend into the body of the compound for a suflicient depth tosecure the desired Wearing properties in the article, although I have not yet succeeded in securing the desired modifications in the color of the compound to extend to a depth equalingthe thickness of other ortions of the article.

r The method or art of producing decorated rubber articles consists in forming the arti ole-of a rubber compound including therein a light sensitive material, subject ng portions of the surface of this material to the action of light rays while excluding said rays from other portions thereof, then subjecting the article to heat which may be and preferably is also used for vulcanizing the compound, but what reaction occurs as a result of the exposure of the compound to light or what reaction resulting from the application of ;heat, causes the change in the color of the portions of the article exposed to the light, I have been unable to determine. By continued experiment, however, Ihave determined that those portions of the rubber compound which have been exposed to light rays, will, as the result of the application of heat at a vulcanizing temperature to the compound, become very much darker and have a diiferent color from those portions which have not been so exposed.

As an example of the method, to 10 parts of rubber may be added 25 parts of lithopone, 12 parts of Paris white, 1% parts of magnesium carbonate, 1% parts of'lime, 4%

parts of sulfur and 2 parts of petrolatum,

the compound .being formed into the article.

desired, and subjected .to light rays. conforming with the desired design, by any suitable manner, either sun light or artificial light being employed as desired. After the exposure of 'the article, it may be subjected, to

heat vulcanization. In the use of this compound the color of the'exposed portion of the article will be russet and the color of the unexposed portion will be white.

The light sensitive agents which I have heretofore used have been barium sulfate or various commercial compounds containing barium sulfate although other alkaline earthy metals might be substituted therefor. I have found that the use of petrolatum has a tendency to deepen thetone of the. portions of the compound subjected to the action of the light, although I have secured adesired modification in the tone or color effects without the use thereof. I have also found that the proportions of the light sensitive ingredient in the compound may vary to accordwith the character of the compound,

tions upon the character of the design used i for the decoration and that if desired graduted tones may be readily secured, by. controlling the volume of light acting upon the compound at different portions thereof.

S harp contrasts in color may be secured by.

using a pattern, portions of which permit the action of the full volume of li-ght rays upon the composition, While other portions thereof are opaque so as to exclude all light @therefrom. By using photographic negatives, I may secure graduated tones and an irregularity of outline which would be impossible to attain by inlay work, .or using juxtaposed blocks of different rub ber com pounds.

The length of time during which the compound of the article is subgected to the ;action of light, may vary according to the desired depth of the deeper tones of the design, while the duration of the period in which the compound is subjected to the action of heat may also vary, being deter mined, when the period of vulcanization is utilized for developing the design, to an interval necessary to secure the proper vulcanization of the compound- The time interval both as'to the action of the light rays upon the .compound and-the action of the heat thereon, may vary indefinitely according to the compound employed and the color 'efi'ect desired. I have successfully produced, by the method or art of my invention, decorated articles from a'number of-difierent compounds, a desired decoration of thearticl'e resulting'from all of these compounds, but various changes in color and tone being present with different compounds.

The method or art of my invention may be advantageously eniployed in the production of floor coverings, mats, trays, and various other articles either of soft or hard rubber.

I believe it to be broadly new to provide a decorated-rubber article formed of a homogeneous mass of the same rubber compound, 7

portions of which article will have a color or tone contrasting .with other portions thereof vto form a. decorative surface design upon the article. I also believe it to be broadly new to produce an article of this character by subjecting the compound of which the article is formed first to the action of light rays, and then to the action of heat for the purpose of producing the desired contrasting tones or colors in the article s6 produced.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A rubber article formed of a substantially homogeneous mass of rubber compound comprising a light sensitive material having portions subjected to the action of light rays forming a decorative surface de- Slgll.

2. A decorated rubber article composed of a substantially homogeneous mass of rubber compound having a surface design or decoration formed of contrasting colors or tones incorporated in and forming a part of the rubber compound, said contrasting colors being formed by compounding with the mass a light sensitive material, and exposing the surface of the compound to the action of light.

3. A decorated rubber article composed of a Substantially homogeneous mass of rubber compound having a surface design or deeoration formed of contrasting colors or tones incorporated in and forming a part of the rubber compound, said contrasting colors being produced by including in the com pound a light sensitive material, subjecting portions ofthe surface of the compound to the action of light rays while excluding said rays from other portions thereof.

4. A decorated rubber article composed of a substantially homogeneous mass of rubber compound having a surface design or decoration formed of contrasting colors or tones incorporated in and forming a part of the rubber compound, said contrasting colors being produced by including in the compound a light sensitive material, subjecting portions of the surface of the compound to the action of lightrays while excluding said rays from other portions thereof, and then subjecting the article to vulcanization. a

5. A rubber article composed of a'substantially homogeneous mass of rubber compound having inco orated therein a light sensitive material, t e surface of the compound having been subjected to the action of light rays so as to produce a surface design or decoration formed of contrasting colors or tones.

6. A step in the method of making a vulcanized rubber article consisting in mixing a light sensitive material with the rubber, and then subjecting the surface of the mass to the action of light rays to produce thereon a design or decoration formed with contrasting colors or tones.

7. The method of making a decorative rubber article by compounding a mass of unvulcanized rubber with a light-sensitive material, forming the compound into the article desired, and subjecting the surface of the article to light rays conforming with the desired design, and then subjecting the article to the action of heat.

Signed at New York, N. Y., this 2nd day of February 1918.

ALBERT A. SOMERVILLE. 

